Beyond the Forge
by Artistia
Summary: AU: Bella is curious and oblivious, Tanya is smitten and worried, throw in a dash of confusion and adventure, and you have an epic journey and strange love story. Under more revision and plotting! Please hold!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I... I have no explanation for this actually. I was playing an RPG game and then I was like huh... This is extremely AU, read at your own peril I guess. Lots of adventure and ridiculousness in this story with a side part of romance going on with a lovesick Tanya and oblivious Bella. Well, mostly oblivious.

I won't be updating this regularly, idk when the next chapter will be out. Developing a world takes a lot of thought process. I have an endgame though, which is what I'm working towards.

 **Posted: April 22nd, 2016**

 **Chapter 1**

"Bella!" An energetic young man yelled as he barged through the entryway, the door banging open and slamming on the wall.

A brunette young woman slammed her head on the shelf above her in shock as she jumped from her position under the counter. "Jake," the girl groaned as she rubbed her head, emerging from behind the counter. "Don't scare me like that, what do you want?"

"Sorry Bells," he replied sheepishly. "My dad sent me over here as soon as you were open to get his potions, and to bring you your regular order of bread." He placed a bag of rolls on the counter, shooting the girl a boyish grin. The brunette wasn't paying attention to him though as she continued to fiddle with the stuff under her counter. "Bella?" He questioned again, drawing her attention.

"Oh, Jake, right, thanks for the rolls, I'll get your Dad's medicine," she said, shuffling to the back of the store to pick up the box of vials on her worktable. She took them back out to the boy and handed him the box, "Here are the potions, these should last about a month, make sure he takes one every day with a meal, no skipping, and to watch what he eats. I know you guys are bakers, but bread all the time is not an acceptable diet."

"I'll let him know, but you have to deal with the fallout," Jacob chuckled, hefting the box over one of his shoulders. He lingered in the store and Bella watched him for a minute, puzzling over the weird expression on his face. When he didn't say anything else, Bella shifted her attention back to restocking the shelves in her store in time to open for the day.

"So uh, Bella," Jacob started hesitantly, "I've been thinking, I mean we've known each other a while, it's been a few years since you moved to town and opened your shop, and well, I've been uh, wondering if you would agree to maybe seeing me more… formally? Maybe courting, I feel like we've been courting, I mean, I come see you every week, we talk about things, it feels like we've been courting…" The young man was stuttering poorly by the time he reached the end of his statement, his nerves getting the best of him. He waited for a few minutes for the woman to say anything to his statement, his nerves increasing every minute. When she didn't respond, he tapped lightly on the shoulder, "Huh, Bella?"

"Huh, oh, you're still here, did you say something?" Bella called back to him, "I wasn't listening, I was testing these sound blockers." She pointed to the sponge like items in her ears, "They pretty much deafen all sound, I was considering stocking them full time for adventurers hunting banshees or sirens." The brunette happily rambled on about the little sponges, describing where she saw them and how she made them, not noticing the downtrodden look on the young man's face. She definitely didn't notice when he sullenly exited the shop and made his way back to his father's mill, the door slamming shut behind him. "And the Banshee was taunting the witch, shrieking at her, being rather irritating, and then I saw the witch stick a piece of moss in each ear before blasting the Banshee, and that is where I got this idea," Bella finished with a flourish before noticing that she was alone in the shop.

"Oh," the brunette blinked, "Oh, he must've had to go back to his father and didn't want to bother me, sure hope Billy remembers to take his medicine this time…"

Bella moved around her store, making sure everything was tidy before officially opening for the day. Once everything was secure and the proper, discreet monitoring charms were in place, Bella stepped over to the windows and pulled back the curtains, signaling that she was open for business. A few minutes later, a few of the other villagers and shop owners wandered in, picking up supplies and medicines that they needed. Bella spent a few hours until the midday lull brewing healing potions, crushing herbs and selling basic goods.

Once she had some calm in her store, Bella checked on the potion simmering in the cauldron over the fire. She had learned the art of potion making from her father as a child, and after he died when she was a youngling, she carried on her studies to honor him. The skill helped her through the years, especially when she moved to Riverforge and found they lacked a basic potion mistress for health and mana potions. While she made a living brewing health potions, Bella's true passion was with potion crafting, mixing it with enchanting and forging that she learned from her mother.

The potion currently simmering in the cauldron was experimental and required constant supervision. She was attempting to enchant daggers, hoping to be able to sell them to Rogues or Warriors, and was creating a potion to soak the daggers. She was attempting to imbue weapons with the powers of the elements by soaking them in a potion. "Harnessing the elements is proving to be difficult," Bella sighed as she wrote down in her notes. "Luckily I started with water, don't even want to know what would've happened if I started with fire or wind, something like that."

Bella sighed and shuffled back out to the store, taking potions and other supplies out to restock her depleted items. She was restocking her water purification potion when her shop door banged open, cracking loudly against the wall. A young man with gleaming silver armor and a large sword strapped to his back sauntered through the door.

"Bella," the young man started before noticing that the girl in question was nowhere to be seen. "Bella?" He looked around in confusion, trying to locate the beautiful shopkeeper.

"I'm going to have to replace this door if people keeping banging it against the wall," Bella's voice came from behind him and he turned to see her examining the door and what looking like a dent in the wall. "Or maybe I should replace the wall since it keeps running into the door?" She rubbed her hand on the wall where the dent was located, "Maybe some kind of door stopper maybe, slow it down from banging on the wall, or maybe get rid of the door, doors are boring, I wonder if I could just wall off the whole entrance… Oh then how would people get in? Hmm…"

"Bella?"

Hearing her name, the brunette turned around and spotted the young man in her store. "Oh, Edward, did you see who banged open my door? Poor door… never mind what can I get you? I'm running low on armor shine if you need some more, though I'm not sure how you managed to use a whole bottle up every two days, you must spend a lot of time rubbing it out." At that point, Bella had returned her attention to stocking the shelves, so didn't see Edward choking on air behind her.

He got control of himself and followed after her, his eyes tracking her form closely, taking in the curve of her waist and hips, much more fuller than the stick like figures of the maids at his estate. "I came to collect some cut ointments, salves and enchanted bandages from you. Some of the squires and younger knights got hurt in training this morning, and the potion mistress at the manor ran out." He leaned against the counter and smiled at the young shopkeeper, the crooked grin on his face that made many maids on his father's estate blush and swoon.

The brunette stared at the knight, wondering what he was waiting for as he leaned against the counter. "Well?" She prompted, motioning with her hands, "Are you going to get what you need?"

"What? Oh yes," the young knight pushed away and grabbed a few of the vials and bandages that he needed, maintaining his charming smile the whole time, directing it at the girl. He placed the items on the counter, leaning on his elbow again as he watched her work.

Bella briefly glanced at his face as he was adding up his total and grabbed another vial. "Here, take this," she said once he paid his total. "On the house, and it should help with your… problem."

"Problem?"

"You know, problem," the brunette lowered her voice. "The call of nature, the natural flow of things…" At the still perplexed look on the knight's face, Bella sighed. "Constipated, you look constipated, your face seemed like it was twisted in pain, and I'm assuming this is why you really came. I won't say anything." Edward grabbed his sack and hurried out of the store, his face beet read and his mind shuffling between being humiliated and more intrigued by the brunette. She was the only one so far resistant to his charms, and that endeared her to him. The only downside was that she was a simple shopkeeper.

"Must be something in the water," Bella murmured as she watched the knight rush out of her shop. "Some kind of staring bug, or maybe they're all constipated." She nodded her head, deciding that was the problem. "I'll have to remember to boil some water tonight."

Bella returned to her potion, watching it carefully and recording notes through it process as the color changed, testing different stages on old metal spoons she had lying around. The majority of the spoons turned to liquid when she dumped the potion on them, except for the last one, which crystallized on the table. "I'm getting closer," Bella cackled, noting that the crystallization occurred after the potion had shifted from an aquamarine color to more of a medium blue.

"The color must be key, if I can find a way to get it to go to a deep, dark blue, and maybe a little thicker, the spoon will become enchanted with the element of water rather than turning into a liquid," the brunette murmured, tapping her quill feather on her chin. Bella grabbed a few leaves and berries of an indigo plant and bottled siren blood, pouring both into the cauldron. She stirred the potion and let it simmer, returning to the front of the store when she heard more customers enter.

She checked her potion periodically in between townspeople coming in to purchase goods and food. The blacksmith's apprentice, Heidi, accidentally burned her hand and Bella needed to make fresh burn salve and ointment in order to treat it properly. She was just getting ready to close up shop for the day when the door opened again, this time with a thud rather than a bang. The sound of heavy footfalls of boot clad shoes stomped around her shelves, and she stepped out of her backroom, watching curiously as a strawberry blonde woman moved around hastily, grabbing various bottles and supplies.

The woman was wearing tight clothing with a small amount of armor covering her frame. Her tunic was a dark green with sleeves ending at her elbows, the bottom tucked into a dark brown pair of breeches. Knee-high leather boots caked with dirt and dust encased the bottom half of her legs and feet. She wore silver wrist guards, shoulder pads, and knee guards along with a lightweight silver breastplate. The brunette knew before spotting the daggers hanging at the woman's waist and more concealed in her boots and behind her armor that she was a Rogue.

Bella watched her grab potions, salves, dried goods and other supplies, all the while grumbling in irritation. The woman turned and stumbled when she caught sight of the brunette waiting for her behind the counter. Her eyes took in bright, smiling mocha orbs, and a beautiful pale face framed by long, red streaked chocolate colored hair. She puffed her chest out and sauntered up to the counter, setting her armful of potions and supplies down on the tabletop.

"Hello," Bella greeted, "Welcome to Potent Potions, Enchantments and Supplies, did you find everything you were looking for?"

"Mhm, most definitely," the blonde replied, her eyes raking over the brunette's form. "I haven't seen you here before, the last person who owned this shop was… unpleasant…"

"Grimsly wasn't the friendliest of people, but he was alright. He took me on when I came to town a few years ago, he needed someone to make potions. Left me the store when he decided he wanted something else in life, took off for parts unknown," Bella replied, smiling as she added the total of the items on the desk.

"So you're a potions mistress, that's impressive," the strawberry blonde said, "I'm Tanya by the way."

"Bella," the brunette replied. She gave Tanya a shy smile, which made the blonde's insides quiver slightly. "And technically I'm a potions mistress," she continued, oblivious to the effect she had on the other woman. "Though that's not the only thing I do, but I make most of my revenue selling healing supplies, potions, elixirs, magic restoration…"

Tanya hummed, her eyes never leaving the girl, admiration and intrigued present in her eyes. "That's 500 Elers," Bella spoke to Tanya, looking up at her finding the woman gazing at her with glazed over eyes. "Tanya?"

"Uh, yes, what, oh, 500 Elers?" Tanya asked, confirming the price. At Bella's nod, she pulled out the requested amount from her money pouch, handing it over to the shopkeeper. She placed the purchased items carefully in her pack, lingering slightly inside the store. Bella stared at her for a moment, wondering what was with people hanging around her today. Tanya wanted to say something more to her, but was unsure what, so she nodded her head and left the shop.

The brunette locked her front door and checked her potion in the back room, pleased that it was turning a dark blue color. She ladled out a scope and poured some on a spoon, smiling as she saw the spoon take on a slight bluish tint. She picked up the spoon and tapped it against the table lightly, seeing a small bit of liquid move with it before hardening again. "Hmm, still not quite right, maybe the temperature is off?" Bella took the cauldron off the fire and let it cool on its rack for the night, making sure to make proper notations in her book.

She locked her back room and grabbed her bag of bread Jake dropped off for her that morning before taking the staircase up to her room above the shop, unlocking the door at the top of the stairs and relocking it behind her. Bella hummed as she made her way around her room, lighting a fire in the fireplace and placing a cauldron of water over the fire to start boiling.

The brunette shuffled over to her cabinet and opened the door, checking the cooling charm she had placed on the food she kept inside. She grabbed a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, a small fish and a wineskin full of goat's milk. Bella placed the fish near the coals of the fire and ate some of the bread and cheese while she waited for the fish to cook. A few minutes later, she took the fish off the coals and removed the pot from the fire when it started to boil.

Bella ate the rest of her dinner, drinking a few mouthfuls of goat's milk before putting it back in the cabinet and replacing her cooling charm. She poured part of the water out of the pot into a cup, cooling it down to a drinkable temperature and left the rest in the pot to use as washing water in the morning. Snapping her fingers, the small candle stump on the table next to her bed lit and Bella settled in, picking up one of the books on magic theory she had traded a few potions for a few weeks prior. The book she was currently reading was on elemental magic, so it was good reference for her project. She read for a few candle marks before setting her book down and snuffing out the light, instantly falling asleep as soon as her head touched her pillow.

* * *

She stared at the potion in shock the next morning as it looked like sludge sitting in the cauldron. The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation before sighing and ladling out some of the sludge into a glass dish. She shrugged and submerged the daggers into the goop, deciding to give it a whirl. The potion was the right color and supposedly the right composition, so it was now or never, especially when dealing with something purely experimental.

Leaving the backroom, Bella walked out to the front of her shop and unlocked the door, opening for the day. She grabbed a box of new potions she had aging in the backroom and started placing them in the new products section. Fully absorbed in her task, Bella didn't notice the sound of pounding footsteps coming closer to her shop until the door was flung open followed by a loud shout of her name.

"Agghh," Bella yelled, flinging the potion in her hand at the intruder.

The potion cracked on the ground, surrounding Jacob in a thick green mist. When the smoke cleared, Jacob had turned a moss green, staring at his spindly fingers in horror. "What is this?" He squeaked out, followed by a loud croak.

"Ah, Jake, what have I told you about sneaking up on me?" The brunette gasped, her hand curled over her chest, monitoring her heart rate.

"Me? What is this stuff? What did it do to me?!"

Bella glanced at the potion in her hand, and the glass bottle on the ground. "That must be the frog changing potion; it's supposed to turn the intended target into a frog, but I must've made it incorrectly. Thanks for testing it out for me Jake."

The boy started sputtering, staring at Bella in horror, but just as he was about to say something else his attention was drawn by a fly buzzing around. He tracked the insect with his eyes until it got closer to them, and his mouth popped open, a long tongue grabbing the bug and bringing it back to his mouth, swallowing it. Jake's face paled and he dashed out of the shop, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. "I didn't get the chance ask him to let me know how long it lasts," Bella sighed before turning back to her potions.

Her day continued pleasantly until midday when the Blacksmith's apprentice, Heidi, walked through the doors. "So I saw Jake today," the mahogany haired girl grinned, wiping at the ash and smoke residue on her face. "Seemed a little on the green side today."

"He startled me, I threw a potion at him," Bella shrugged. "So when did you last see him? I want to know how long the potion works."

"Saw him an hour ago, green and webby, I'm guessing you were going for a frog?"

Bella pouted, "It was supposed to be a full frog, but only turned him green and gave him some webbing on his fingers and toes. I'll have to do some testing, but it did have excellent results."

Heidi chuckled at the obliviousness of her friend and shook her head. "I'll be sure to let you know when he turns back to normal since I doubt he'll be anywhere around here any time soon."

"Thanks Heidi, oh how's your arm by the way," Bella asked, looking at the bandage still on her friend's hand and arm.

"Better, thanks to you," Heidi sighed, "But Dad is making me sit out of the shop for a while because of that mistake, the ass. Looks like I'll be back on stable duty until he says I can get back to improving my blacksmithing skills."

"The stables aren't too bad."

"Horse shit Bella, horse shit everywhere," Heidi retorted, sighing again. "The horses are nice enough, but stubborn and they just keep shitting everywhere."

Bella pulled some bread and cheese out from under the counter, cutting off a few slices and handing them to the other woman. Heidi pulled a tomato out of her bag and traded it for the bread and cheese. Bella sliced the small fruit-like vegetable quickly and placed some of the slices on the bread and cheese. "You're the best Bella," Heidi moaned, inhaling the food.

"It's rare that I get to eat the midday meal, or a tomato, so thanks for that," the brunette shopkeeper replied, gobbling down her own food.

Heidi nodded, "This was fun but I have to get back to the stables." She finished her food and pushed away from the counter. "Oh by the way, have you met the new Rogues in town? They're here chasing local bounties apparently."

"I met one of them yes, Tanya, she came into my shop yesterday," Bella replied, putting her food away and wiping down the counter.

The blacksmith apprentice stared at the shopkeeper expectantly for few minutes and just sighed when Bella stared back. "Sometimes I worry about you," Heidi grumbled. "I'll see you later Bells, I'll keep an eye on Jake."

"Thanks Heidi," the brunette yelled after her friend. She checked on her daggers soaking in the sludge in the back, pulling them out to inspect them before submerging them a little while longer. She started brewing some more healing and health potions to replenish her stores, but those did not take long to brew and didn't need constant supervision. The brunette was able to brew and watch her shop at the same time, but that still left her with not much to do when she wasn't helping customers.

Bella pulled out her notebook and disappeared into her world of invention and creativity, dreaming up new potions and possibilities.

* * *

The brunette cackled gleefully as she held the daggers she had created, though they turned out differently than she planned. Her idea was to create daggers imbued with the power over the element of water, but instead they seemed to be powered by ice. "Probably that ice dragon scale that got knocked into the cauldron in the early stages," Bella mused, jotting down notes in her book. "Still bloody fantastic, I did it!"

The blades were around medium in length for daggers, slightly smaller than a short sword. The silver colored metal had transformed to a crystallized appearance, and was cold to the touch. She had found runes in one of her books, and carved them along the flat of the blades, from hilt to tip. They were meant to make the daggers more durable and increase the potency of their control over ice. It had been several days since she had finished the daggers and nearly a fortnight since she had finished the potion. She still believed it and the daggers to be her finest accomplishment. Her curious mind knew no bounds though, as now she wanted to experiment with other elements.

She heard the door of her shop swing open and she hastily put the daggers away and looked up. She spotted the blonde woman who had become a fixture in her shop since she had first come in her shop. Bella watched her for a while as the blonde strutted around the store, examining the different items on the shelves. Tanya lingered, shooting furtive glances at the brunette before turning her attention back to the potions she was examining. The blonde stepped lightly around the store, avoiding the creaks in the floorboards. Bella enjoyed having her in the store with her, the presence of the taller Rogue was calming and allowed for the brunette to go about her work without worry.

"Tanya," Bella called, drawing the Rogue's complete attention. "Do you think you stick around and help any customers that come in? It's about time I do some inventory and I can't do that, and keep track of the store."

"I'll help," the blonde replied quickly, moving quickly to the shopkeeper. "I'll watch the store, don't worry about it." Bella smiled, oblivious to the effect it had on the blonde, and grabbed her inventory list, moving to the back room.

The blonde sighed as she watched after the girl, enjoying the way her hips moved as she walked and how round her ass looked in her thin, cloth pants. She sighed as soon as the girl disappeared into the back, slightly grateful that Bella had left the room to do inventory as now the Rogue could focus on her assigned task: watching the store for the girl.

Tanya leaned against the counter, keeping careful watch on the door. "How does she do this all day?" She murmured to herself after a few hours had passed. Only a few of the townspeople had come into the shop to get various supplies, shooting wary glances at the blonde who was manning the counter. Several of them asked after Bella, and Tanya just smiled and pointed to the back room, causing the townspeople to nod in understanding before leaving the store.

"Well, well." Tanya heard her sister Kate's voice coming through the door and she looked up, crossing her eyes in irritation as she spotted Kate and Irina walking into the shop. "The fiercest, bravest Rogue in all of Eleguard, reduced to a simple shopkeeper's assistant."

"Lovesick shopkeeper's assistant," Irina amended, "Don't forget that part. I mean that is what keeps pulling her here in between picking up bounties in the region."

"And it's why we're still here," Kate teased. "We could've been out days ago, but no, Tanya here has a crush on a local, might as well give up your adventuring ways for the whole ball and chain routine."

"Shut up Kate," Tanya gritted out, her teeth clenched as she fingered the daggers at her belt, debating the pros and cons of whether she should gut Kate here or save it for later. Before she could settle on a decision, Bella emerged from the back room, list in hand.

The girl stopped short at seeing two more blondes as equally built and dressed as Tanya, though missing that dominant, striking quality that the strawberry blonde had in spades. "Oh hi," Bella greeted, "You two must be the sisters I've heard about. Welcome to my shop, feel free to look around." With that, Bella disappeared into the shelves, her mind completely focused on her task of taking inventory.

"Damn," Kate whistled quietly after the girl. "No wonder you keep coming around, with curves like that, almost makes me wish I had seen her first."

"Watch it Kate," Tanya hissed, danger present in her voice as she pulled out one of her daggers.

"I'm just messing with you," the other blonde replied quickly, waving her hands. "Geez, you need to relax."

"You two need to calm down," Irina said as she got between her older sister and her younger sister. "Seriously though Tanya, she's beautiful, so we get it now, why don't you try getting to know her more, courting her maybe rather than just hanging around here aimlessly all the time, or using half of your bounty money to buy more stuff."

Tanya shrugged sheepishly, "I could try but…"

They were interrupted from their conversation by the sound of a door banging open and Sir Edward Cullen strolling in, his armor sparkling in the latent light streaming through the store. "Bella," Edward started before stopping short at seeing the three blondes situated around the counter.

"Kate, Irina," Edward greeted reluctantly before turning his attention to the bane of his existence, "Tanya…"

"Sir Eddikins," Kate called, fake enthusiasm coloring her voice, "It's been a while, have you managed to remove that stick purposely wedged up your ass or would you like our assistance to do so, such as when you couldn't manage to catch that rogue bandit, what was his name…"

"Mungler," Irina supplied, smirking at Edward, "A lowlife thug named Mungler who was wanted for capturing girls and selling them to the trolls in exchanged for their services. He was tracked here and you…"

"Couldn't manage to catch him, which is why we were called in," Tanya finished, chuckling.

"Probably because you spend more time sparkling your armor than actually using it," Kate added.

Edward sneered at the three women, taking a deep breath, as it wouldn't look good if he were to attack the women and damage the store, especially since he was trying to woo the storeowner. "I don't know what you three are doing here, or how long you're going to be in town, but I have better things to do than to deal with three glorified bounty hunters." Edward turned his head and spotted the brunette he was originally looking for and rushed over to her side.

"There you are Bella," Edward greeted when he saw her. "I came to see how you were doing, as well as to pick up a few more potions from you." Bella mumbled and nibbled on the tip of her quill as she glanced from the list to the shelves in front of her, making sure to tally up the correct amount. "I need to pick up more than usual today since I'm going to be traveling soon. There's some trouble in the southern regions and the King has requested his most trusted knights to go and quell the problem. Maybe, when I get back, you'll consent to begin courting, that way I'll have someone for whom I'm slaying dragons for." The knight placed a hand over his heart, kneeling before the shopkeeper, "I humbly ask for a token of yours to take into battle, so that I may return it to you upon my triumphant return."

At that moment, Bella took a handkerchief out of her shirt and sneezed into it, dropping it next to Edward's feet. Not seeing what had happened, Edward looked at the fallen handkerchief and picked it up. "Thank you my lady, I will return it to you as soon as possible," he said, standing up and leaving the store. He came back in a few minutes later, grabbing the potions that he needed and paid for them, smirking at the three women at the counter before leaving once more.

"What just happened?" Tanya asked as she stared in bewilderment at the oblivious brunette and out the door after the knight.

"Your girlfriend is extremely oblivious and apparently doesn't know that she is also the future Lady Edward Cullen," Irina chuckled while Kate just observed the girl.

"She really is oblivious isn't she, does she even realize that Sir Eddikins came into the store?" Kate asked as she watched the girl move down the shelves, carefully counting and re-counting each item.

"I don't think she realizes we're still in the store," Irina added, also watching the girl. Tanya just sighed wistfully as she watched the girl with admiration, her eyes tracking her every movement.

"Keep your pants on Tristan*," Kate joked, rolling her eyes. "Well, at least until you get her pants off." Tanya shot her youngest sister a dark look, causing Kate to chuckle in response. "But Edward did mention something interesting, trouble happening in the south. I'm going to check with some of my contacts in town to see if its something that we could cash in on." The platinum blonde pushed herself off the counter and grabbed her dirty blonde haired sister, pulling her out of the store.

The remaining Rogue turned her attention back to the shopkeeper as she started on the last shelf, which was thankfully the shelf that Edward had taken his potions from. By the time Bella finished with checking the shelves, the sun was sinking below the horizon and it was time to close the shop. "Finally done," Bella sighed, putting her paper and quill down.

"I didn't realize it would take you all day to take inventory," Tanya's voice came from behind her, causing Bella to shriek.

"Aaaahhhh, ah, oh," Bella gasped out, whirling around to see the blonde sitting on the counter, her legs crossed. "Oh, I forgot you were here."

"I figured you might have," Tanya smiled at the absentminded storekeeper, deciding not to mention anything about Edward being there. "So how is the inventory?"

Bella sighed again, "I'm low on quiet a few things, mainly potions ingredients, and other regular stock. I can always order those things from the capital but the potions ingredients, I'll have to harvest them myself." The brunette hummed as she looked at the list. "Looks like I'm heading to the south, I'll have to make plans though…"

"Who wait south?" Tanya questioned, trying to get clarification from the girl.

"Yeah, south, that's where I harvest these ingredients," Bella replied, slowly pushing Tanya out of her store. "I hate to ask you to leave, but I have a lot of planning to do." With that, Tanya found herself outside and the door locking behind her.

She looked at the door in confusion then looked around the darkening street. "What just happened?"

* * *

 ***Tristan- From the legend of Tristan and Isolde, Arthurian version of Romeo and Juliet, though not as annoying**

 **A/N:** Really toyed with not posting this, because I like it and I was like do I want to share this with people? Not really... So I'll leave this first chapter here and see what happens


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Literally everything in this story is mine. There are some Twilight characters, but not many.

 **Posted: May 13th, 2016**

 **Chapter 2**

"She wants to do what?" Irina and Kate asked at the same time later that night at their campsite. When Tanya returned, the two were still gone, most likely skulking around town chasing down leads as to the situation down south and hopefully getting their evening meal. The two returned a short while later with shepherd's pie from the tavern and Kate regaling Tanya with stories of Irina's failed attempts to flirt with the tavern owner.

"I didn't think that the tavern owner's wife would take too kindly to you flirting with her husband," Tanya mused as she bit into her meat filled pie.

"She wasn't until Irina got a good look at her and started to flirt with her instead," Kate chuckled, slapping her dirty-blonde sister on the back. "Ol' Cane wasn't too happy when her attentions shifted, or when it looked like his wife was happy about her attentions. Tossed Irina out on her arse."

"For an older, hairy guy, he is deceptively strong," Irina murmured, wincing as she shifted slightly on the ground. "But back to Bella, she wants to do what exactly?"

"She wants to travel south to gather ingredients for her store," Tanya repeated.

"Where south exactly?" Kate mumbled, downing a pint of ale she nicked on her way out of the tavern. "River Forge is one of the North Eastern settlements of Eleguard, so she could mean anywhere south, not specifically the troublesome areas."

"I don't know," the strawberry blonde grumbled out. "Her list was pretty long, but I didn't get a good look at it."

Irina snickered, "Well what are you going to do about it? She's a potions mistress, I'm sure she's done this before and is used to it."

Tanya perked up, "I'll go with her, like an escort, make sure she's okay and all that."

Kate spat out a mouthful of ale, "Whoa, hey, wait a tick, what? What do you mean you'll go with her? Do you not remember that we are rogues? Professional bounty hunters, basically nomads as we travel from settlement to settlement."

"Yes Kate I know…"

"And we're the best damn rogues in all of Eleguard, we're a team, sisters, though I would gut either of you for a cheesecake and a good roll in the hay," the platinum blonde's voice trailed off as her eyes took on a faraway look. She shook herself out of it and glanced around, "Where was I, never mind, how do you expect to manage to keep catching bounties if you're running all over the place making sure your lady-love is safe?"

"I'm sure that I could catch bounties on the way, return them to local towns, even find work along the way," Tanya mused. "Ravenskeep always has problems with trolls being next to the Black Forest and Lochlorn has a witch problem."

"And Draveden is a teeming will all kinds of criminals and other problems," Irina suggested, ignoring the glare Kate sent her way. "What? It seems like a good idea."

"Okay, fine, so you can catch bounties on the way," Kate admitted grudgingly. "Beat up low-life thugs, fight trolls, witches, all kinds of dirt bags all over Eleguard."

"We should go with them," Irina suggested, looking between her two sisters.

Kate hissed out, "You can't be serious? You want to be front row to all the lovesick mooning that will be going on?"

"Kinda, yeah," the dirty blonde nodded, stealing some of Kate's ale. "But really, we wouldn't be with them the whole time. We travel with them and if we reach a city that has a persistent problem, we stay and take care of it while Tanya keeps going with Bella. Then we meet up further south at another town, because, let's face it, your little shopkeeper, Tanya, is definitely going to be going to the problematic regions in the south. She seems like that kind of person."

"You're probably right," Tanya sighed, "And I would appreciate the company of you two for part of the trip. What is going on in the south anyway?"

Kate snorted, "What isn't going on down south would be easier to answer. The neighboring kingdom, Thraine, has invaded the southern region of Eleguard, after years of tension and disputes over the region. Fire dragons are burning the southwest, armies are attacking the central southern areas and pirates employed by Thraine are attacking the coast in the southeast." The platinum blonde scratched at her scalp, "And I also heard rumors of giants and wraiths emerging from the southern edge of the black forest."

"What is going on? This seems all too much of a coincidence to be happening at the same time," Irina commented, leaning back against the log behind her.

"Then it might be a good thing for us to make our way south, maybe travel different paths along the way. I'll talk to Bella about going with her tomorrow and see if she has a route that she follows. We can travel part way and then separate, meeting up in different cities if possible," Tanya stated, glancing at her sisters. "Besides, Sir Eddiekins is going to be fighting in the south. It would be rude of us if we didn't offer our help."

"I wondered if he managed to learn how to use his sword properly?" Kate snickered, "He did like to polish it, must not have had the chance to learn."

"And his armor," Irina giggled, standing up and bowing clumsily, "Oh how sparkly you are your lordship, you practically glitter in the sunlight."

The three cackled and laughed, mocking the puffed up knight, as the embers of their fire grew dim and night settled around them, a comforting blanket to rogues who lived and worked best in darkness.

* * *

A thoughtful look crossed Bella's face as she grabbed some things off of the shelves in her shop that she would need for her journey: rope, potions, bandages, cleaning powder, knife, grappling hook. Bella paused at that last one, and looked at the device curiously. She couldn't remember when she had acquired said item, but she did know it looked like it would be fun to try, so tossed it in her pack along with a small sized crossbow.

"Bella." Tanya's voice came from behind her, startling her.

"Aaah, oh, um, right, forgot you were here, what?" The brunette said rapidly, turning to look at the blonde.

"I asked if you would be alright with my sisters and I tagging along with you on your quest," the rogue stated again, still amazed at how absentminded the potions mistress was.

"It's alright with me if you guys tag along, but it's not very interesting gathering ingredients," Bella shrugged as she finished packing her bag. "I mean, sometimes there's some excitement if there are other mages sniffing around my collecting grounds." The brunette crossed her eyes at the though, "Maybe I should pack some more frog changing potion just in case." She grabbed the potion off the shelf, packing it in her bag before she moved back to the backroom of her store.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find something to amuse ourselves with on the way," Tanya said, following the other woman. "And Irina and Kate aren't going to be with us the whole time, they're going to branch off and meet up with us at a later date." She watched as the brunette puttered around her backroom, checking on the different cauldrons simmering in the room. "They wanted me to inquire as to the route you take on these expeditions."

"Mhm, oh, right, yes, I have map around here somewhere, thanks for reminding me," Bella said, shuffling through a drawer before pulling out a large folded piece of age animal skin. She tossed it at Tanya who caught it and unfolded it, seeing a map of the kingdom with particular areas and times marked on a ridiculous road through the entire land, eventually traveling south.

"You're going to Drar first?" Tanya asked incredulously, noticing the first part of the line lead slightly northwest from Riverforge to the small city of Drar, located on a small plateau in the northern mountains. It was the coldest settlement in Eleguard, a far different climate than in the temperate weathers of Riverforge or the warmer parts of the southern regions. Only the Black Forest could be considered as cold as Drar, but that cold was one that affected the soul, not the body.

"I've got a friend in Drar," Bella stated, bottling some of the potions in the cauldrons. "He has a cousin further south in Durr. I usually stop in to see him first and he gives me stuff to give his cousin as trade for some supplies and things."

"Of course you're planning on going to Durr as well, why wouldn't you?" Tanya muttered to herself as she looked at the map. If Drar was the coldest city, Durr was the hottest being next to a volcano and a lava field.

"Where else do you get lava rock and volcanic ash?" Bella scoffed before a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Well, I did run into a Mage that tried to negotiate a trade for volcanic ash from underwater volcanoes. He tried talking to the water sprites first, which was a mistake; sirens are much easier to deal with than water sprites, sirens or mermaids. All they usually want is something shiny, or if you have a potion that allows them to grow legs for a time." The brunette explained as she poured a deep bluish potion into a few small vials. "Which is why these will come in handy."

"What happened to the mage?" Tanya asked curiously, not sure if she really wanted to know truthfully.

"Water sprites are notorious pranksters, they spelled the volcanic ash they gave him, and trapped him in a giant bubble. I met him when he was trying to get out of the bubble. He told me what happened and asked if I had any advice for his situation."

"And did you?"

"Of course, I told him never to trust water sprites and to know better than to use volcanic ash from an underwater volcano, it doesn't have the same consistency as ash from an above ground volcano," she huffed out before pausing. "Oh, I wonder if he meant advice on how to get out of the bubble… Oh well, no matter, I'm sure he'd have figured it out by now."

Tanya decided to ignore that last comment and focus her attention on the map in front of her or she'd end up staring at the girl again in either confusion or helpless admiration, both equally embarrassing for her at the moment. The map was old, very old, with markings and notations she had never seen before. "Bella, there are markings on this map that don't make any sense, and towns I've never heard of before. How old is this map?"

"It was one of the last things I got from my dad before he died," Bella smiled sadly, glancing back at the thin animal skin.

"Some of these towns don't exist…" Tanya said gently, glancing down at the map. "I mean this says there are towns in the middle of the Black Forest and then the southern desert, there aren't any towns there."

Bella looked at Tanya in confusion before realization dawned in her eyes, "Oh right, the hidden places, you wouldn't know about those, well I guess you'll find out." The brunette continued to rifle through her things while the strawberry blonde looked at the map, puzzled. "Aha, found it," Bella yelled, pulling out a small box from underneath a pile of junk. "Okay, I just need to finish brewing these potions, talk to Heidi and then I'll be ready to go early tomorrow morning."

"Don't you need a tent? Bedroll?" The rogue asked, looking at the collected supplies Bella had.

"That's what this is for," Bella replied, waving around her box. "I need to go talk to Heidi, so you stay here and watch the shop, I'll be back in like an hour or so."

"But, what? Hey, come back," Tanya called after Bella as the brunette skipped out the front door. She headed down the street towards the stables on the edge of town next to the tavern, looking for her mahogany haired friend. "Heidi?" She called once she entered the barn, glancing in the first few stalls.

"Back here," a tired voice came from the very back of the building and Bella found Heidi sprawled out on top of a few stacks of hay.

"Tired of mucking out stalls?" Bella asked, taking in the dirt and horseshit covering her friend's boots.

"So fucking tired," Heidi muttered, propping herself up on her elbows. "Dad won't let me back in the forge yet, so I'm stuck out here for another month at least."

"How about you watch my store instead," Bella suggested, sitting down on one of the hay bales. "You could stay in my room above the store."

Heidi sits up on the bale, "You serious?"

"It's that time of year again, so I need someone to watch the shop, can't have these people go without their health potions and stuff while I'm out of town," Bella said, staring expectantly at her friend. "So I need you to take on the boring job of a shopkeeper until I get back in a month, maybe a little over a month."

"I forgot that it was getting close to that time, sure I'll watch the shop for you. I'll have to let Dad know, when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow, everything is brewed and, barring any kind of natural disaster or wayward cavalrymen-"

"Who were super fun by the way."

"- you should have enough to last the whole month," Bella finished, smiling at her friend.

"So business as usual?"

Bella stared off into air for a moment, thinking. "I don't think the Unseens will be visiting while I'm away, so you won't have to worry about them."

"Good to know," Heidi replied easily, used to her friend's strange sayings and odd behavior. "Are you taking your usual route?"

"West to Drar, then south to Lochlorn, then back east to the Black Forest before continuing further south," Bella confirmed, "I have to pick up stuff from Icar to-"

"Take down to Durr to his cousin, I know I know," Heidi waved off the rest of the other brunette's explanation. "But are you sure it's safe to be heading south? I've heard there's a lot of trouble going on down south."

"Mhm, that must be why Tanya asked if she and her sisters could come with me," Bella mused. "I'll be fine though."

"Tall, blonde and extremely sexy is going to be going with you on your expedition? You must tell me everything, especially how she looks when she's taking down monsters."

"Why is that important?"

Heidi sighed, "Sometimes I find the way your mind works delightfully cute, other times impossibly irritating." Bella tilted her head and stared at her friend, a puzzled look on her face. "Nothing, you better get back to your store to finish getting ready, I'll be over first thing in the morning before you leave." The taller woman turned Bella around and pushed her out of the stables. "I'm going back to the forge to let my Dad know."

"Thanks Heidi, I'll see you tomorrow."

Bella walked back to her store and got there in time to see a giant, yellow puffball exiting her store, angry quacks resounding from its mouth as it wandered up the street away from her. She titled her head and hummed at the sight before shrugging and continuing into her store, she had seen weirder things.

When she walked through the door, Belle saw Irina and Kate arguing over a broken vial on the floor and Tanya leaning on the counter, her face buried in her hands. "Bella," Kate cried on seeing her, rushing over to the girl. "Irina and I are having a disagreement as to what this potion did, perhaps you can assist us."

"Well, I'm guessing it broke," Bella replied, "Though I can't be sure, it could've also escaped, but that depends on what potion you ask. Many of them don't like the word broke, rather they changed locations from one place to another…"

"You're hilarious," Kate continued, "But we really need to settle this dispute. We came in to find dear old Tanya watching the store, so we decided to poke around. We found this sunshine yellow potion and it somehow slipped out of our- I mean, slipped off the shelf, this yellow gas came out of the liquid and then a giant human, duck thing appeared, clearly summoned."

"A potion can't summon beings Kate," Irina retorted, glaring at her sister.

The two continued bicker while Bella just stared at the broken glass thoughtfully. "Tanya, did anyone enter the store before the potion escaped?" Bella asked the strawberry blonde.

Tanya lifted her face up out of her hands and looked at the brunette, "I don't think so- oh wait, that one baker kid came in. Huh, not sure where he went."

"Ah, that was the duck changing potion then, supposed to give you the abilities of a duck, not turn you into a duck, poor Jake," Bella looked down mournfully before her head popped up gleefully. "With Heidi watching the store, she'll be able to see how long this one lasts as well, wonderful."

"Why do you have a potion that gives people the abilities of a duck?" Irina asked, looking at the shopkeeper in disbelief.

"Why not? Besides, ducks are scary," the brunette shivered, "Have you seen a duck, all the feathers and cute faces, so scary."

Kate and Irina stared at Bella in amusement while Tanya just sighed, a dreamy expression on her face. "So, Bella," Kate started again, moving towards the brunette, "Tanya showed us the map that you're using for your adventure, and I have to agree with my sister, some of the places on it don't exist. I mean, we've been all over this kingdom, and a couple others, and I've never even heard of these places."

"They are the hidden places for a reason," Bella replied, glancing around her store. When the girl didn't offer any more explanation, the three sisters sighed.

"Speaking with her gives me a headache," Irina said, walking out of the door. "I'll be at the tavern if you guys need me, you can find me in a pint."

Kate started running towards the door, "Wait for me Irina, if we're going to be wandering around again, I want to be properly hung over in the morning."

"You can go with them if you want," Bella told the strawberry blonde when she lingered. "I'm going to close up early anyway to finish getting ready."

Tanya hesitated to leave the store, "Are you sure?"

Bella sighed and calmly pushed the rogue out of her store. "Let me repeat, you need to go keep an eye on them, Cane wasn't too happy with Irina flirting with Delilah, so you need to make sure they behave themselves. We don't need a big hairy guy, who is most likely part troll rampaging around town again."

With that, the brunette shut the door and Tanya glanced at it with a sigh. "Why does this keep happening?"

* * *

"Just be glad that you two morons did end up in the town jail," Tanya muttered as she took in the sight of her sisters groaning, holding their heads and limping as they walked into town early the next morning. "You guys should know better than to drink that much. We are no longer allowed in some towns in Thraine because of your terrible drinking habits."

"I didn't know Cane could punched that hard," Irina moaned, holding onto her black eye while Kate answered with a groan of her own, rubbing the growing bruise on her left shoulder.

A thoughtful look crossed Tanya's face, "Bella did mention that he might be part forest troll."

"Would've been nice to know yesterday," Kate grumbled. The three made their way to Bella's shop, large packs strapped to their backs. They found the brunette shopkeeper saying farewell to her friend who disappeared into the shop while Bella skipped towards them.

"Hi guys," the shopkeeper greeted. "Ready to go?"

"Reluctantly," Kate continued to grumble, "Shouldn't you get your stuff so we can leave?"

"Already have everything," the brunette replied, pointing to the satchel she had strapped around her shoulders.

The platinum blonde scoffed, "No way you have everything in there, what about a tent? Bedroll?"

"Everything is in here," Bella chuckled as she started walking west out of town to cross the river and start the trek towards Drar.

Kate moved to question the girl again when Tanya put a hand on her arm to stop her. "It'll just give you a headache, she can share my tent if she needs one when we get to a stopping place tonight," the strawberry blonde told her as they followed after the skipping brunette.

"You just want to get our lovely shopkeeper into your bedroll, share some heat," Irina snickered.

Heat flooded Tanya's face but she ignored it in favor of catching up with the brunette. "How long does it normally take you to get to Drar? We don't usually head up that way, too cold."

"A few days," Bella replied, "About fifteen miles a day, depending on the weather, I can get there in three days. I don't normally collect any ingredients along the way. I pick up some in Drar from my friend Icar, and then Lochlorn, but most everything I get in the Black Forest."

"And you do this trip every year?" Irina asked once she and Kate had caught up with the other two.

"Pretty much."

"How long does it take you?"

"Some where between 6 to 8 weeks, depends on how long I stay in the Black Forest and the Hidden Places."

"Why don't you collect ingredients to last longer than a year? It can't be good for your store to leave it for two months out of the annual?" Kate asked, trying to understand this strange storekeeper her oldest sister was enamored with.

Bella glanced back at the platinum blonde out of the corner of her eye, studying her briefly before looking ahead to watch as the landscape slowly inclined into the foothills leading to the mountains. She hummed as she thought about the climb up those mountains the next day, and the little known trail she takes up to the icy city of Drar. "Some of the ingredients I get are only available at certain times of the year, some of the more time sensitive ones. Plus I get to visit with some friends during this trek, take a nice stroll through the realm, a vacation from the townspeople and crazy farmers of Riverforge…" The brunette's voice trailed off at the end, thinking about the different characters that lived in or around the settlement where she made her home.

Thinking about the farmers living around Riverforge sparked Bella's memory of another interesting person that lived in the mountains and foothills around the river. She stopped in her tracks and turned to the three rouges, a wary look on her face. "You three knew Grimsley right?"

"Ornery old Grimsley?" Kate snorted, "Yeah, we knew him, dealing with him to purchase potions and other supplies was a… delight every time we made it this far north."

"Did you know his cousin Grumpy?" The brunette asked.

The three rouges gave her a blank look before bursting out laughing, leaning forward slightly so that the riotous laughter combined with the large packs on their backs don't knock them off balance. "You're kidding," Tanya finally breathed out, "Old Grimsley had a cousin named _Grumpy?"_

Bella shrugged, "His name is Grimsley too actually, but as far as I know, everyone has called him Grumpy his entire life. Grimsley was actually the pleasant one out of the two of them."

That caused the three to regain their composure. Grimsley, cantankery old Grimsley who'd rather swallow a wasp's nest than smile, was the nice one of the two? "Why uh, why are you telling us about this Grumpy person?" Irina questioned, not really wanting to know the answer.

The shopkeeper sighed, "Well, Grumpy is a farmer in this area. Not really a farmer, he raises sheep, goats, llamas. It's easy for them to walk up the steep sections of these hills, and he's close enough to come into town for a pint every now and then. He's pleasant enough to me since I took over Grimsley's shop, but the closest person he calls a friend would be Cane and even then he still glares at him." Bella tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I guess you could describe Grumpy as like Billy Goat Gruff, or maybe a bridge troll."

Tanya gulped slightly, "Meaning…"

"Well, he might start throwing rocks at us if he sees us, just don't piss him off or he'll start singing," Bella replied simply before turning back around and heading back up the path into the mountains.

"How is singing worse than getting rocks thrown at us?" Kate grumbled as she and Irina followed after the bizarre shopkeeper and her recently ever present shadow that was right on her heels.

"You've never heard him sing," came Bella's reply as they continued into the hills. They continued on the path up and down placid hills that steadily grew in size the further west they walked. The wind rustled through the trees and foliage, bringing the smell of rain and lightning from No Man's land to the north. Leaves were turning a healthy green and blossoms appearing on the trees and flowers as spring entered full season, shaking off the last remnants of winter with blowing away the old, dead leaves of the previous autumn.

Around midday, they started to hear the loud rushing of water as it tumbled down rocks and rapids, heading further south. "We're getting close to the river," Irina murmured.

Tanya hummed and continued to follow after the brunette, wondering what the crossover in this region was like. There was a large bridge further down stream, closer to the Black Forest as the main crossing point heading north from the capital city to the northeastern farming region of Riverforge and the surrounding area. It was the most trafficked route of the region, used highly for trade and travel. They knew that there was another crossing point further north leading from Riverforge to Drar but had never traveled that road.

Just as the four travelers reached the top of the hill, the noise of the rushing water growing in strength, a small rock hit the ground just next to Irina's feet. The three rouges paused, glancing at the stone while Bella continued on, knowing what the rock meant. More rocks started raining down on them and they glanced up, seeing a diminutive man with a scraggly white beard and dirty grey robe jumping around, launching small rocks at them.

"What the fuck dude," Kate yelled up at the old man. "Cut it out!"

"I don't think so," the man sang back at them, still dancing around as he chucked rocks. His voice was like claws scratching at rocks, changing from high to low pitch at an infrequent pace.

"Oh gods, that was terrible," Irina moaned, clutching at her ears as she tried to dodge the rocks. "Please don't make him sing again."

"I told you, hi Grumpy," Bella greeted as she waved to the man. She pulled a small cloth sack out of her bag and threw it towards the old man.

Grumpy caught the bag and opened it, revealing a loaf of bread. "Thanks Bella," he sang, ignoring the wincing of the other three women. "Have a good trip this year!" He took a bite of the loaf of bread and continued to throw rocks at the rouges. "Get lost! Get off of my road, you're ruining the view!"

"That's it," Kate growled and she started to lunge up the hill, but Tanya and Irina grabbed her before she could get too far up the hill.

"I can see his relation to Grimsley, and also his nickname Grumpy," Tanya sighed.

"Crazy might've been a better name," Irina added.

"Are you guys coming?" Bella called, and they turned to see the brunette at the top of the road on the crest of the hill.

The three made their way up the hill, hearing the sound of rushing water getting louder with every step. When they reached the top, they found a rickety wooden bridge held together by old ropes spreading across rushing rapids.

"Um, Bella, is this completely safe?" Tanya asked, looking at the bridge hesitantly.

"No," the brunette replied as she started crossing, stepping lightly to avoid warped or damaged boards.

"Wha-Bella wait, what do you mean it's not safe?" The strawberry blonde yelled out, rushing to the edge of the bridge.

Bella turned back to look at the three in confusion, "I never said that, you asked if this was completely safe. Nothing is completely safe, now hurry up slow pokes, we're burning daylight. You guys were the ones that wanted to come."

"I swear Tanya, you're betrothed is completely bonkers," Kate growled out as she and Irina followed behind their sister onto the old bridge. "Good thing I'm not going with her the whole way, or one of us would've ended up dead."

"Stop saying stupid stuff Kate," Tanya chastised her sister, her cheeks red at the thought of Bella being her betrothed.

"I'm just glad that it's going to be you and not us," Irina said, urging her sisters forward on the bridge faster.

Tanya continued walking, stepping gingerly on the boards until she heard a loud crack on the one beneath her feet. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…"

* * *

 **A/N:** So I'm amazed by the positive reactions for this story. If you guys can manage 40-50 reviews a chapter it really keeps me going. Keep leaving reviews, sending messages about how you like the story, maybe even what type of creatures you would like to see in the story. I'm adapting a lot of supernatural creatures and legends, and as y'all know, I know many. The characters will grow as the story progresses, and Bella might not be as oblivious as she has been. The only reason she is oblivious is because she has alot of other things going on in her mind

I made up the names for the towns, they're pronounced exactly as they're spelt.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Literally everything in this story is mine. There are some Twilight characters, but not many.

 **Posted: June 24th, 2016**

 **Chapter 3**

"There's a reason I never go to Drar," Kate groaned as she dropped her pack on the ground when Bella announced they had reached her usual camping spot for her first night on the journey. "The path up these stupid mountains is a bitch."

"It's not too bad," Bella countered, "I come up here every few months to visit my friend."

Kate snorted, "You're obviously insane, so you don't count. And besides, you didn't have to climb the second half of the day soaking wet since you didn't fall into the river!"

Bella just hummed, not really paying attention to the conversation, more concerned with searching through her bag instead. Huffing out a frustrated sound, she set the bag on the ground and began to rifle through the contents with more gusto. The three blondes unpacked their tents and bedrolls from their packs while the brunette was searching her bag. Kate had just finished putting up her tent when she glanced back at the shopkeeper and her eyes bugged out. She quickly got Tanya and Irina's attention and pointed to the girl, both of their eyes widening when they saw her.

Bella had her entire arm and shoulder submerged in her bag along with her head as she rifled through her things. "My brain isn't processing what I'm seeing," Tanya said as the girl descended deeper into the small bag.

"Aha!" The brunette cried and she emerged from the bag with the small box Tanya had seen her looking for in her backroom the other day. "I knew it was in there somewhere, got stuck between the crossbow and grappling hook."

"Crossbow…" Irina muttered, her eyes unfocused.

"Grappling hook?" Kate wondered, staring at the bag with apprehension.

The shopkeeper didn't pay the two any attention as she fiddled with the small box in her hand. A string fell out and she pulled it before tossing it away, watching in satisfaction as a large tent popped out of the box and anchored itself to the ground. Bella looked behind her at the three rouges and grinned, "I told you I had a tent."

"Wait wait, hold up, you have a pop up tent and bedroll, and an extendable bag?" Kate questioned, staring at the girl incredulously.

"Of course," the brunette replied, "Why would I go ingredient gathering without either of those things, that would be silly."

"Right, silly," Irina repeated, turning to look at Tanya. "Looks like you missed your chance to canoodle big sis."

A tinge of red colored Tanya's features as she blushed and looked away. Kate chuckled at her older sister, "No worries Tanya, plenty more chances to 'enjoy the wonders of nature,' though I suggest you use Bella's tent if you're going to participate in some advanced snuggling."

Tanya's eyes promised murderous retribution if the two didn't cease speaking. As well experienced rouges, the two had keen senses of self-preservation and so continued moving around the camp, setting up their tents and gathering rocks to construct a fire ring. They gathered wood and tinder from their surroundings, and Irina pulled out a flint and a knife from her pack, striking them together to spark a fire.

"Don't suppose you have a four-course feast in your bag?" Kate questioned with a sigh, sitting down on a large rock just next to her tent.

Bella looked at them with an incredulous expression, "Don't be ridiculous, I didn't have anything to put the strudels in." She reached into her bag and pulled out large bundle of dried vegetables and small rolls. She set the bundle down and reached back in again and pulled out another box, opening it to reveal a collection of salted meats. "Salted pork?" Bella offered, holding out the box.

"Bless you," Kate said, grabbing a piece out of the box and a few carrots and a roll from the bundle. Irina and Tanya also took some of the food.

The brunette shopkeeper took a piece of the pork and rifled through her bag again, pulling out a small skillet. She placed the meat in the skillet, along with an ear of corn, carrots and a roll. "There isn't a whole lot of food around until we get to Drar, even then it's pretty sparse because of how cold it is," Bella said as she heated up her food. "They have really good cheese though, like really good cheese."

"We've only been to Drar a few times, and even then those were short trips," Tanya said as she watched Bella in confused as she warmed up her food over the fire. She had never seen anyone heat salted pork, but she's also not encountered many who would travel with a frying pan. Most of the towns and villages in Elear were a few days walk within each other, not counting the vast desert and badlands in the southern regions of the kingdom. It was unusual for someone to be traveling away from towns long enough to need such items. Even the apprentice mages on their wandering quests to grow in magic skill and strength to journeyman mage would not travel far from a township area.

Bella gave the three an incredulous look, "If you haven't stayed in Drar for a lengthy visit, then you've missed out on some pretty interesting things. I love visiting Drar, though you only get to know the best parts of it if you know the locals. They like their privacy."

"Mhm, if you say so," Kate shrugged. She never liked the frozen city situated at the northern most point of the kingdom. It was too cold, and the people too stiff. The city also had the disadvantage of settling near an area inhabited by ice dwelling creatures like ice elementals, dragons, yeti, and tundra bears to name a few.

"Trust me, you guys are going to love Drar. My friend we're going to see, he makes really good fondue," the brunette said, a lovesick expression on her face at the mention of cheese.

They continued to eat their food, the three rogues sharing tales of their adventures while Bella interjected with odd comments every now and then, mentioning things about plants used in potions or creatures they've never heard of living in different regions. Darkness fell and the fire dimmed to embers. Bella stood up from her seat and stretched slightly, stuffing her belongs back in her bag. "I'm heading to sleep, long day tomorrow. We have to keep heading up this trail, then up the mountain pass, passed the ice condor's nest and up the cliff side. If we get where I usually do, there's a covered overhang there to settle for the night. Then we'll reach Drar by the next morning." The brunette bid the three rogues goodnight and crawled into her tent, closing the flap and settling in for the night.

The three blondes stared after the brunette before looking at each other. "Did she say ice condor?" Irina asked, her eyes wide.

"Fuck this shit man, fuck this shit," Kate muttered. She walked over to her bedroll and folded herself in it. "Your shopkeeper is insane," she said to Tanya as she rolled over away.

Tanya blushed and rolled her eyes, "Not my shopkeeper."

"I knew there was a reason we didn't go to Drar," Irina sighed as she and her other sister ready for sleep, tossing more wood on the fire before settling down for the night.

* * *

"We are sur-surrounded," Kate stuttered out, "By four billion tons of white bullshit. Fuck. This. Shit."

"Um, Bella?" Tanya started, trying not to stutter, or lose the footing she currently had. "I thought you said this was a mountain pass?"

Bella glanced back down at the three rogues in confusion before looking up ahead of her. "It is, this is a mountain, and we're passing over it. Mountain pass."

The three rogues had woken early in the morning to find the shopkeeper already bustling about, her tent instantly folding itself up as she pulled on another string to return it to its small box form. They ate some bread and cheese from Bella's magical bag before gathering their own belongings and heading out.

Initially, the road going was easy, not even placing a slight strain on adventure harden muscles. The path uphill grew harder though as they left the foothills behind for mountains, gradually growing steeper and colder until they found themselves where they were at present, hiking through piles of snow and ice up a mountain.

"I'm just glad," Irina huffed out, "That you're the one going with her the rest of the way Tanya. How do you want your funeral pyre to be carried out? Standard fare or would you like a burial at sea."

"Very funny Irina."

"Not joking, I now agree with Kate, your shopkeeper is insane," the dirty blonde continued.

"Guys, you're gonna want to be quiet now," Bella hissed back at them. "We're getting closer to where the ice condors nest and we need to get passed it and up to the overhang before night fall or insane people are gonna be on the menu tonight for condor babies."

"How do you know that there are babies?" Kate asked. Bella turned around and slapped her hand over the blonde's mouth, looking around furtively. The other two stared at her in confusion but remained silent.

"You hear that?" The brunette questioned, her voice a whisper as she stared up the snowy cliffs.

"I don't hear anything," Kate muffled out behind the palm, sticking her tongue out to lick lightly at the hand in hopes to get rid of it.

Bella removed her hand and wiped it on Kate's clothes, "Exactly, there's no sound. Animals that normally live in this region know better than to be here, meaning there's a larger predator living and hunting quite frequently in this region."

Kate looked at the shopkeeper in amazement, "Huh, didn't think about that…"

The brunette shrugged, "That, and my friend who lives in Drar sent me a message that the condors had three hatchlings and to be careful in this area." She opened her bag and stuck her hand down inside, rifling around. Finding what she needed, Bella pulled her arm out clutching at a clump of white cloth. "Put this on," she said, tossing the three pieces of cloth back at the rouges.

Tanya unfurled the piece of cloth and found that it was a hooded cloak, mottled with white and gray to look like the snowy surroundings. She tied the cloak around her neck, pulling the hood up while her sisters and Bella did the same. "What does an ice condor look like?" She asked, following after the brunette.

Bella was about to reply when a loud screech filled the air. The four travelers turned in its direction and the three rouges gapped at the large, magnificent bird seated on the rocky cliffs in front of them. The bird was massive, large enough to grab a horse in its talons and carry it off, maybe even large enough to carry away a troll. It was entirely white with plumage feathers of gray and ice blue on its head and wings. Its long neck twisted and turned around, scouring the ground with its keen eye while its sharp beak clicked anxiously. Blue feathers ruffled occasionally along the crest of its head, raising up sharply whenever the bird focused on something and settling back down when it calmed. The condor rustled its wings slightly as it moved, stepping closer to the edge of the cliff as it clutched to the rocks with massive talons. The wings were beautifully streaked with blue and gray feathers.

"Holy shit," Kate muttered, her eyes huge as she stared at the bird. "That thing is huge, and there's two of them?"

"Five if you count the babies," Bella whispered, "Now shush, we have to keep quiet if we don't want to end up lunch." The brunette turned around and continued walking forward, the white robe tied around her shoulders disguising her against the snowy backdrop. Tanya, Irina and Kate walked along behind the shopkeeper, trying their best to move silently in the unfamiliar territory.

They had just passed the cliff where the bird was perched when Irina slipped on an ice-covered rock, triggering a shifting of ice and snow and the rocks beneath her feet dislodged under the snow. The four of them froze in place and glanced back at the rocks rolling down the mountain before hesitantly looking up at the bird on the cliff. It was focused in their direction, the blue plumage ruffling out along its head.

"Don't move," Tanya ordered.

They watched as the bird clicked its beak a few times, focusing on them but not fully seeing them. They breathed a sigh of relief when the bird shifted its attention to another part of the landscape. Irina stood up and they started up the hill again when Bella sneezed. The sound echoed around them, hitting the cliff side and bouncing off, reverberating through the air. "That feels better," she said, holding her nose. A screech filled the air and the four felt ice run through their veins at the sound. "We need to run," the brunette said, taking off up the hill. The three blondes followed after her, picking their feet up and over the snow.

A sparkling blue bolt hit the snow next to them, resulting in sharp crystalline pieces of ice shooting from the ground. "What the hell was that?" Kate screeched out as they kept running.

"Why do you think it's called an _ice_ condor?" Bella called back.

"I just thought that was like a crack at its coloring, or where it lives," the platinum blonde retorted, shrieking slightly as another bolt of ice came down, the heavy flaps of the condor's wings as the beast pursued them. "I didn't think it meant that the giant chicken has the ability to make snow cones out of us!"

"We can't kill it," Irina puffed out, "I don't really want to get into a tangle with that thing, so what do we do?"

"Keep running, there's a crack in the mountain wall just ahead of us, well more like a crevice really… Maybe a cranny…"

"Bella!" Tanya said, "Focus, where is the crevice?"

Bella glanced back and saw the condor bearing down on them, "Just up ahead on the left."

"You guys get going then, I'll distract the condor," the strawberry blonde told them, turning around to face the incoming bird.

The brunette looked back after the rouge, "Tanya, don't be stupid."

"Come on Bella, Tanya knows what she's doing," Irina said, hefting her over her shoulder to make sure the brunette didn't try to follow after her sister.

"Irina! Put me down, we can't let Tanya face the condor alone!" Bella yelled, hitting at the blonde's back trying to get the woman to drop her.

"Tanya's a big girl, she can take care of herself," the dirty blonde haired woman replied. "Is that the crevice you were talking about?"

Bella twisted around as best as she could, seeing a dark crack out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, that's it, just duck in there and the condor can't get to us. Its talons are too big to fit in there." The brunette turned her attention back to the strawberry blonde rogue dodging and weaving around the massive bird, moving closer to the cliffs with every step. A thought crossed Bella's mind and she maneuvered around to get to her bag, digging for a potion. When Irina set the brunette down to shove her into the crevice, Bella wriggled around the pushy hands of Irina and Kate and ran slightly back towards where Tanya was running from the ice condor.

"Tanya run!" Bella shouted just as she tossed the potion bottle at the bird. When the glass vial broke, the condor was surrounded in a green mist, hiding the creature from view.

The rogue picked up her feet, running as fast as she could through the snow. "What did you do to it?" She asked, panting as she reached the brunette.

Bella stopped for a moment and looked back at the green cloud in confusion, "I'm not sure, that was the frog changing potion…"

The smoke cleared and the bird was now a greenish color, with webbing between its talons and on the wings. It squawked out a croak, floundering slightly in the air before attempting to fly away. "That was… odd…" Tanya said, watching the bird flop its way back to its nest.

"It should wear off soon… hopefully, and I don't want to be around when it does, or if its mate decides to see what the problem was," Bella commented before turning back around and jogging back to the crevice where Irina and Kate were waiting.

The two were looking at them with unimpressed looks on their faces. "I can't believe you two, running at the giant frozen chicken was not the best decision in the world," Irina fumed, irritation in her voice.

Kate snorted, "You two deserve each other, insanity becomes you."

"So you keep saying but I'm not sure exactly what you mean," Bella said as she let out a whoosh of air and squeezed herself into the crack in the rocks and ice covering the mountain. "Come on, it's not bad in here once you get passed the first little bit," she called back to them as she entered the hidden caverns in the mountain.

The three rogues shrugged, stripping their packs off and shoving them through the gap before following suit themselves. After several lengths of close quarters with the rocks of the walls, the cavern opened suddenly to a larger tunnel. Bella had climbed partially up the wall and was inspecting several of the stalactites on the ceiling.

"Where are we exactly?" Tanya asked, also looking around at the cavern though not studying the rocks like the shopkeeper.

"Mhm, oh, this is a cave system that runs through parts of the mountain," the brunette answered, climbing back down. "Supposedly they run all the way up to the overhang I use to stay the night before making the climb up to Drar."

"What do you mean supposedly?"

"What do you mean climb up to Drar?" Irina and Kate spoke at the same time, looking at the brunette with weariness in their eyes.

"Alright, first, I haven't been in these cave systems before, my father told me about them but I didn't have any reason to use them until now, and second, it would take too long to use the main highway to Drar from Lochlorn. We're going up the back way," Bella explained. She dug around in her bag and pulled out a stick and small pouch. She pulled a glowing green moss out of the pouch and stuck it onto the end of the stick, creating a torch. "All we have to do is keep heading north and we shouldn't have a problem."

Tanya, Irina and Kate pulled out small glow stones from their bags, rocks specifically charmed to produce light for a certain length of time. There are numerous mages in the capital city that make the crystals; the experience and power of the mage determines the length of time the light lasts, but also the price. Bella held the glowing moss on the stick out to light the way while the rogues held their glowing rock. The tunnel wasn't very wide, only about two arm spans in width, narrowing in some sections.

The brunette walked slowly, inspecting the rocks as they went, slowing ascending in the mountain. Soon they came to a fork in the tunnel, one heading up in the mountain, while the left fork descends down into the core. "You said we just have to keep heading up right?" Kate asked, holding her stone up to the right fork in the tunnel. "It looks like this one heads up, but we'll have to start climbing on our hands and feet. The ground is too steep to just walk up the tunnel."

Bella nodded in agreement but she was looking down the left fork curiously. "What is that?" She murmured, shoving her torch back in her bag.

"What?" Tanya asked, crouching down next to Bella.

The brunette shook her head, waving her hand, "Can you guys put the glow rocks away for a second? I thought I saw something."

Tanya glanced back at Irina and Kate and shrugged, rubbing the runes on the glow rock to snuff out the light before placing them inside the pockets in their tunics. Darkness greeted their eyes but where they expected total cave darkness, they could discern a slight glow coming from the left tunnel.

"I knew it," Bella mumbled to herself before venturing down the tunnel, sliding down part of the way.

"I thought we had to go up," Kate grumbled as the three followed after Bella.

Irina snorted, "She's a potions mistress, they're always on the lookout for new ingredients or interesting things. I kinda wish we were going with Tanya and Bella, if only to see our sister try to woo the lovely shopkeeper."

"It would be amusing," Kate agreed, "but it wouldn't balance out the crazy situations the lovely shopkeeper would put us in trying to get potions ingredients. Case in point, we're crawling through a mountain, escaping a giant frozen chicken."

"Yes I think it would be much safer for us if we went hunting for crazy, hardened criminals," Irina stated. Tanya rolled her eyes at her sisters' words and slid down the tunnel, finding Bella in a room of gigantic glowing crystals.

Tanya stared around the cavern in shock, Kate and Irina soon following after her with similar expressions on their faces. The light coming from the crystals was so bright and colorful as if the room were lit with thousands of stars in different hues. The strawberry blonde's eyes fell on Bella who had a bag out and was scraping dust off one of the smaller crystals.

"My dad told me stories about this place," Bella said, standing back up to gaze around the room again. "I didn't know where it was or even if he was telling the truth. It sounded like a fairy tale, a legend, though seeing it now, I'm not even sure if it is real."

"What are these things?" Tanya asked, lightly touching some of the crystals. "They look like glow stones."

"These are what glow stones wanted to be," the brunette offered as an explanation, "Or what they tried to make them. They're star crystals. A long time ago, a star fell to earth, bringing magic to all of Yore. She gave magic to people and animals, but when they started to misuse it, she regretted what she had done. She returned to the heavens, but an imprint of light and magic remained where she fell. Several enchantresses came together and hid the place, sinking it into the ground so that it would always remain, untouched as a memorial of the star that brought magic to them."

Kate stared at Bella suspiciously, "Is that story true?"

Bella shrugged, "Probably not, it's one my father always told me and he wasn't known for telling the truth. I'd like to believe it's true though."

"Whether it is true or not is beside the point," Irina said, rising up from her examination of the crystals and backing away. "These crystals are full of concentrated magic and if we set them off, they'll break and we'll be vaporized or worse."

"What's worse than being vaporized?" Kate asked her sister.

The dirty blonde waved her hands around, "We could be turned into pig rats, or worse, replicas of that buffoon Sir Eddikins."

"They're the same so it was unnecessary to say both of them," Kate replied, heading back up the tunnel with Irina right behind her.

"Who?" Bella asked, looking at Tanya in confusion.

"Sir Edward Cullen, we've had run-ins with him several times over the years, he gets annoyed by us, we like annoying him, one of the great joys in life."

Bella cocked her head and looked at Tanya in confusion, "Who?"

Tanya stared at Bella for a few minutes, taking in her genuine look of confusion and cracked a smile, shaking her head. "Don't ever change Bella."

* * *

"All right, climbing through a mountain, fine, sleeping under an overhang, fine, but scaling the side of a mountain? Not fine," Kate protested, glancing up at the sheer rock wall in front of them. After the four had finished climbing through the mountain tunnels up to the overhang, they bedded down for the night before finishing the trek to Drar the next morning. Bella had kept pretty quiet about how they were going to get into the secluded mountain city, and now they knew why.

Bella seemed excited as she dug through her bag, "Normally I freehand this climb, but now I don't have to because I got this." She pulled a grappling hook out of her bag with a pile of rope and a crossbow.

"I'm going to need to get a closer look at this bag," Kate muttered as she watched Bella tie the rope to the grappling hook and loading it onto the crossbow.

The brunette pointed the crossbow up the mountain to the walls of Drar and fired, sending the grappling hook up to the top and securing itself on the rocks. "I hope they don't think we're marauders," Tanya muttered as she grabbed onto the rope after Bella had already started to climb up it.

"Don't worry," Bella called back, "This is how people normally get up the back way. I usually climbed because I didn't have a grappling hook, but this is so much more fun."

"Bella, we're going to need to have a talk about what you consider fun," Kate called after her as she and Irina followed behind the two. Along the way up, Bella pointed out her hand and footholds she marked in the cliff wall, letting go of the rope to demonstrate how she climbed up the mountain. Tanya was terrified but her sisters were both irritated and amused. It was a little over a candle mark and they were climbing over the wall into Drar. Bella dug the grappling hook out of the wall and stuffed it and the rope back in her bag.

"That was fun, I'm definitely going to have to do that again when I come visit my friend," Bella said. She stood up and wiped her hands on her clothes before gesturing around her. "So, welcome to Drar guys."

The three rogues glanced around and were met with the same snow and ice covered huts and buildings they viewed the last time they were in Drar. The road and courtyard in the city was made of rock cobblestone, and the buildings made of stone and brick. Snow covered the tops of the buildings and dusted along the road, reminding all who lived and visited Drar that is was a city of ice and cold.

Baker, blacksmith, tailor, butcher, goods, all the stores were the same as they remembered sitting snug in a row among other stores and houses on a plateau cut into the side of a mountain. "Great place for winter sports all year long, but I don't see why it's all that exciting," Kate grumbled, looking around. "There's snow everywhere, granted it seems they do a pretty good job of keeping the streets cleared, can't even imagine the kind of mess an out of control wagon would cause on ice and snow covered streets."

Several people were walking around in the streets, going from shop to shop, or houses, many appearing to be visitors from other cities staying in Drar to enjoy the skiing and sledding in the region. The people who lived locally though waved in greeting at Bella while looking at the three rogues with slight interest and hesitation. "They're confused," Bella explained, "I never bring anyone, and they pretty much treat me like a local so I know all the local secrets. They're wondering if you can be trusted with the secrets of Drar."

"What secrets does Drar have? How to make the best hot chocolate?" Kate snorted, rolling her eyes.

Bella gave a slightly smile and started walking down one of the side streets, heading away from the center of town. "Come on, my friend will be waiting for us."

The blondes followed the brunette through the town to the back wall of the plateau and its slight overhang above it. Walking along the wall, Bella reached the edge of the plateau and started down a mostly hidden staircase leading to concealed entrance on the side of the mountain. "Never saw this before," Tanya murmured as Bella led them through the cave opening.

"I told you, Drar has many secrets," Bella replied before disappearing into the darkness.

"Bella, Bella!" Tanya called out, looking for the shopkeeper.

"Well, shit, where did she go?" Kate muttered. They dropped their packs at the entrance of the cave and continued on into the cave, pulling their daggers out of the back of their tunics.

They stayed low, spreading out as much as they could, hoping that the faint light from the entrance would trickle in and allow them to see into the darkness. They continued further into the cave until they came to an opening into a larger room. Suddenly, a grumbling sound sounded around them and two glowing eyes appeared out of the dark. A tail swept out and knocked the rogues off balance, sending them tumbling to the ground. Tanya and Irina managed to roll with the movement, but Kate was caught and the tail wrapped around her leg, dragging her up into the air.

The other two jumped up, ready to attack the creature when another voice rang out in the room. "Icar! Put her down!" Bella's voice came as light filled the cavern.

The rogues blinked their eyes as they took in the large, white dragon with a serpent like body that coiled around the room. The dragon was eying the platinum blonde rogue held in front of its face. Turning its attention towards the brunette, the dragon huffed, "Are you sure?"

"They're my friends Icar, put her down," the brunette replied, tapping her feet on the ground.

The dragon, Icar blinked before setting the woman down on the ground with the other two rogues and shrinking down slightly to a more manageable size. "Well, you should've told me you were bringing friends," the dragon said as it stood up on its back to legs and made its way to the side of the room where a few small chairs and a table were situated. "They didn't smell familiar so I just thought they were tourists poking around."

"No, they're with me," Bella replied, smiling brightly. "Icar, these are my friends Tanya, Kate and Irina, guys this is Icar."

"Your friend is a dragon," Irina stuttered out slightly, looking between the dragon and the brunette shopkeeper.

"A frost dragon," Bella corrected, skipping over to the chairs in the back of the cave.

"I hate her," Kate muttered out in irritation.

"She's clearly insane," Irina agreed.

"She's perfect," Tanya breathed, a dreamy expression on her face. She moved to join the brunette as well while her two sisters rolled their eyes in exasperation.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi guys, I'm not having a good week, one of the people I went to school with died suddenly and it has been a little shocking and jarring. I haven't really been motivated to write all that much, but I've had this chapter ready for a while to keep with my updating once a month thing with this story. For those reading Dangerous Lines, I don't know when the next chapter will be out, not until after I feel better probably.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions guys, many of them have already been planned for this story. I started writing the actual version of the story, with corrected names and things and it is actually pretty fun. Writing this version is good to get events and personalities hashed out, but the final version should be very different.

I'll see you next month with the next update for this story!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Literally everything in this story is mine. There are some Twilight characters, but not many.

 **Posted: August 19th, 2016**

 **Chapter 4**

"Cocoa?" Icar asked, picking up a tray of large cups and taking a pot off the fire they didn't notice burning in the back of the cave.

"Sure, why not?" Kate grumbled, "I've always wanted to sit and have cocoa with a dragon…"

Icar placed the tray on a low table near the cluster of chairs. He set several dark sticks in each mug before ladling out some hot water from the pot into the cups. The sticks melted and the water started to turn a dark brown when he pulled out another container and spooned out a dollop of white cream on top of the cocoa. "Drink drink," the dragon said, pulling out a much large mug, about twice the size of the other cups and prepared it in the same way. Bella happily picked up one of the mugs and stirred it using one of the provided mugs. Taking a tentative sip, the brunette hummed before picking up a few more sticks from the pile on the tray, one a brunt sienna color the other a light ash brown, placing them both in her cup and watching them melt with the cream.

The three blondes watched the ritual in fascination before looking at their own cups. "This is edible right?" Irina asked as Tanya picked hers up and took a sip.

"Wow, this is really good," the strawberry blonde said, taking larger sips but still careful about not burning her mouth. "I guess how to make good cocoa is one of the secrets of Drar."

Kate rolled her eyes and proceeded to drink her own cocoa, "Shut up Tanya."

"What are these stick things?" Tanya asked, ignoring her sister. "I've never seen them before."

"They're made in Drar," Bella explained, happily drinking her chocolate. "Drar processes the cocoa, cinnamon, sugar and a lot of other spices because of the cool temperatures. But while they sell them as powdered forms in the rest of Eleguard, in Drar the mould them into sticks." She picked up one of the reddish brown sticks and places it in Tanya's mug. "It's cinnamon, tastes really good."

Irina picked up one of the light brown sticks and looked at it curiously. "Brown sugar," Icar commented, seeing her confusion.

"Why sticks?" She asked the dragon, wondering how in Yore she was sitting in a cave on a nicely stuffed chair talking to a dragon.

"Multiple reasons," the dragon shrugged, calmly sipping at his cocoa. "The winds get pretty strong to so people got tired of their cocoa flying away, plus dragons, not nice."

"You're a dragon," Kate pointed out, placing another stick of cocoa in her drink, along with two sticks of brown sugar.

"I'm a frost dragon," Icar scoffed, "Don't confuse me with those uncultured ice dragons that live further up in the mountains."

"Ice dragons are bigger," Bella whispered, "He gets jealous." Icar reached over and knocked the brunette on the head.

"He was just gigantic, filling this entire room," Irina protested as she drank her own cocoa.

"An illusion," Icar replied, making another drink for himself. "We frost dragons are good at illusions and other similar magicks, and a lot more agreeable than ice dragons."

Kate hummed into her cup, enjoying the sweet chocolate flavor before a memory crossed her mind. "Wait, Icar is your friend, that means he's the one you deliver something to his cousin in Durr, which further means that his cousin is also a dragon."

"Who, Fira?" The dragon asked, letting out a chuckle, sparks of flame and smoke escaping his mouth. "I'll let that be a surprise."

"Some surprise, already read the end of the book," Kate grumbled, finishing her drink. "Not that I don't find the conversation enchanting, but how long are we going to stay in Drar?" It was clear in Kate's tone that she was thinking about the discomfort of the weather, seeing as the average temperature in Drar during the day was still below freezing.

"Day after tomorrow is when I'm leaving for Lochlorn, which as you know is only a day's walk down the normal trade route," Bella stated. "I've got to gather some materials and things tomorrow, but I can do that by myself if you guys want to head out."

"I'm staying with you, so I'm going to be helping you," Tanya said, gazing dreamily at the brunette.

"It's okay Tanya, you don't have to stay with me if you want to go with your sisters," Bella said, brown eyes peering into blue.

"No, I want to," the strawberry blonde pressed, reaching over and squeezing one of Bella's hands.

Kate and Irina made gagging noises while Icar looked on in amusement. "Dear Bella has always been a tad bit oblivious when someone is smitten with them. She tends to enchant people wherever she goes, usually hopeless idiots, but your sister seems promising." Icar sighed, "Bella's head is just so full of different things, potions, ideas, new things to try, that her mind tends to gloss over things around her. She'll catch on soon, either her mind will slow down or Tanya's persistence will catch up with her."

"You say adorable, I say both amusing and irritating," Kate grumbled, snapping her fingers. "Hey, guys, Irina and I will probably head out tomorrow if we can get some information on good bounties and quests in the tavern tonight."

"The tavern has good cocoa," Icar commented as Bella and Tanya looked over at them.

"Not gonna be what I'm drinking," the platinum blonde smirked, taking a large gulp of her drink.

Bella stood up and stretched before walking to another side of the cavern and pressed a rock, opening a hidden tunnel. "I'm going to spend the afternoon in the hot springs," she announced, striping off her clothes as she disappeared through the tunnel, giving Tanya a tantalizing view of her bare back before vanishing. "You guys can do whatever you want for the rest of the day," her voice called back, echoing slightly.

"What does she mean hot springs?" Tanya stuttered out, her mind wanting to follow the brunette while her body was frozen to her chair.

"Hot springs, only the best kept secret in Drar," Icar chuckled. "Just head down that passage way and you'll see what I mean." The strawberry blonde bolted across the room and into the passage, tripping slightly in her haste. She paused partway through the tunnel, her actions catching up with her mind.

"What are you doing?" She hissed out at herself in chastisement, "You're acting just like those oaf knights and warriors that stare and leer at you." She continued to berate herself for a few moments, willing her body to calm down but unable to stop its progression forward. The tunnel around her decreased as it turned into a type of funnel as she continued, pressing through the last bit to enter a larger cavern. It was smaller than Icar's cave but the room was more developed with carved stone and wooden walls erected on the stone floor. Tanya followed the wooden tunnel around to a changing room, gulping when she spots Bella's clothes in one of the baskets.

Steam filled the air as Tanya moved further through the room and came to a large pool of steaming water. "Getting in with clothes on reduces the pleasure obtained by the hot water," Bella's voice commented and Tanya located the girl. The heated air flooded out of her lungs as she took in long brunette hair piled on top of the other girl's head. She followed the line of her neck down to the light dotting of freckles on Bella's collarbone and then down to the smooth skin of the tops of her breasts before the rest of her body was obscured by the steaming water. "Tanya?"

"I wasn't staring," she prattled out, a confused look on her face. She took in the amused look on Bella's face, "What?"

"Clothes Tanya, I don't know how rogues do it, but us normal people like to soak in hot springs without our clothes. Saves time on having to wait for them to dry," Bella repeated, wondering slightly at the glazed look on Tanya's face. The brunette became concerned when the strawberry blonde continued to stand there unmoving. Bella turned around and took the steps out of the water and heard Tanya release a strangled gasp. She turned towards her friend again as she wrapped her bath cloth around herself and moved to the rogue, taking in her glazed and vacant expression. "Tanya, Tanya?" She patted the girl on the cheek a few times, nothing registering for the taller girl.

Bella led her back to the changing area and quickly pealed off the rogue's clothes, blushing as her fingers lightly brushed over soft skin and her eyes took in rock hard muscles. "Should've listened to Heidi more when she talked about this stuff," the brunette murmured, averting her eyes from the form in front of her. She grabbed another cloth for Tanya and led her back to the water, stripping hers off as they stepped in the pool.

Tanya slowly came to awareness as the warmth seeped into her skin and she let out a relaxed sigh, propping her elbows back on the ledge behind her. "Oh that feels nice," she sighed, allowing her mind to wander.

"Glad you're back with me," Bella smiled, smirking slightly when Tanya jerked away.

"What? Oh, oh right, did I do anything weird?"

Bella shrugged, "You were just staring at the wall and I slapped your face a few times, but still nothing so I undressed you and pulled you in here with me."

"You undressed me?" Tanya squeaked out, willing herself to calm down.

"I told you, it's hard to appreciate the full quality of the water with clothes on."

Tanya's mind wasn't quite sure what to do with that information so she ignored it in favor of focusing on the water… just the water… not the insanely attractive and very naked shopkeeper next to her… It wasn't working. She blinked, trying to clear her mind and looked away to regain her composure. "So how long have you known about these hot springs?" Tanya asked, her eyes still gazing around the room.

"I've known Icar for years, he was friends with my Dad, and since the hot springs are in his cave, I guess I've always known," Bella replied, sinking down into the water.

"And this is completely hidden from visitors to Drar?"

Bella looked at Tanya strangely, "Who in their right mind would visit a dragon's cave?"

Tanya gave the brunette a disbelieving look and was about to respond when Kate's voice interrupted them. "Shit, there really is a hot spring." The blonde gaped at the steaming spring and wiggled her eyebrows at her older sister when she spotted the naked women. "Enjoying the view sis?"

"Shut up Kate," Tanya growled.

"I would, but I just love the sound of my own voice, now move over, I'm coming in," Kate retorted, stripping off her clothes.

"Kate, no, there's a big pool-" Tanya was cut off by the tidal wave her sister made when she jumped in the hot spring, nearly landing on top of the older girl. Tanya blinked her eyes open under the water and glared at her grinning sister through the bubbles made by the splash. The older girl rolled her eyes when Kate stuck her tongue out her, and made her way back to the surface.

When Tanya surfaced, she spotted Irina leaning against the edge of the hot springs talking with Bella. Sometime after Kate jumped in the water, her middle sister had stripped and stepped down in the water. Tanya let out a growl at seeing her sister so close to Bella, sinking back down into the water so that her eyes were barely over the surface of the water. Irina heard her sister's growl and glanced over at her, winking at her in amusement.

Bella glanced over at Tanya when she heard Irina chuckling and saw the strawberry blonde glowering at her sister, steam rising from her head. "What's wrong with Tanya?" The brunette asked.

"Nothing, just some… personal thoughts she's dealing with," the dirty blonde commented. Definitely personal thoughts, probably revolving between ripping Irina's eyes out of her head and pressing the oblivious shopkeeper against the wall. Irina snickered again, causing the water in front of Tanya's face to bubble slightly as she no doubt growled again. She was about to pounce on her sister when Kate jumped on her again, submerging the both of them.

"Well, all right, I've got to talk with Icar a bit more, but I'll catch up with you guys at the tavern later," Bella said, stepping out of the water and back to the changing room.

Tanya surfaced again, noticing that Bella had left and caught a glimpse of her wrapping a cloth around her body and toweling out her wet hair. "Where's she going?"

"She's going back to talk with Icar. We'll meet up with her later and the tavern."

The strawberry blonde made to follow after the brunette when Kate grabbed her. "Oh no you don't Tanya, you don't have to follow her every where, and besides, this gives us the opportunity to discuss your intentions on this little trip."

"What do you mean my intentions?" Tanya narrowed her eyes at her sisters.

"Towards the delightfully oblivious shopkeeper of course," Kate stated. "Now are you going to wine and dine her or are you going to go in for the kill and have a quickie in her super amazing tent?"

Bella heard a loud splash followed by shrieking and gurgling and poked her head back into the hot springs' chamber. She glanced over at Irina curiously when she saw Tanya actively trying to drown Kate as she held her head underwater, while flailing limbs attempted to dislodge her. Irina waved her off when she shot her a questioning look and Bella shrugged before heading back to Icar's main room.

"Icar," she hissed out when she saw that the dragon was gone. Knowing that the dragon was around and would hear her, Bella started looking through the different side rooms for him.

"Over here," Icar called, his tail poking slightly out of one doorway and Bella followed it into another room. "I thought you were enjoying the hot springs with your new friends?"

"I wanted to show you something," Bella said. She had grabbed her bag on the way out of the main room and now started to rifle through it.

Icar watched in amusement for a while as Bella nearly disappeared a few times in the bag trying to sort through everything she kept in it. "You know, that strawberry blonde rough, Tanya? She has it bad."

"Has what bad?" Bella asked, her voice muffled by the bag.

"Sometimes your obliviousness is frustrating at times," Icar sighed, lounging slightly on his pile of rocks.

"Heidi has mentioned something similar, ahahaha," Bella cried, emerging from her bag holding her two ice daggers. "Take a gander at these."

Icar lifted up his head and peered closely at the daggers in Bella's hands. "What do we have here?" He murmured, taking on in a clawed hand to examine more closely. "Is this ice?"

"Yeah look," she said. She pulled a carrot out of her bag and stabbed it with the dagger and Icar watched in astonishment as the carrot turned to solid ice.

"Extraordinary, where did you find these?"

"I made them, using some old silver daggers I had and this new potion I was working on." Bella bounced a little as she spoke. "I carved some ruins in the blade to alter the appearance and efficiency, but aren't they amazing!"

"They are indeed, I've never seen an elemental weapon imbued with powers that way before. Usually mages or enchanters use a spell to provide weapons power for a short amount of time, but you manage to change the weapon itself, make it permanent." Icar handed the dagger back to his young friend, "You father would be proud of you."

"I hope so," Bella murmured, stowing the daggers away. "But that's not the only thing, when I was making the potion, I accidentally knocked an ice dragon scale into it, which is how it got the power of ice, but… that was my last scale…"

Icar looked at the pleading face of the brunette in front of him. "No," he said, realizing what she wanted.

"Oh come on Icar, I need more scales," Bella huffed. "Please give me the map."

"No."

"I'm going to go up that mountain with or without your aid tomorrow so you might as well give me the map to help me," the brunette bit back, crossing her arms.

"Definitely just like your father," Icar muttered. He flicked open a chest in the corner of the room with his tail, fishing out a small roll of parchment before shutting it. "This is the map to the ice dragons' cave, don't say I didn't warn you though. If you end up at a Bella-cicle there's not going to be anything I can do for you."

Bella brushed off his concern, "I'll be fine, I managed to avoid getting turned into an ice sculpture by the condor."

"Yes, I heard you woke that thing up. What did you turn him into, I could hear his protests all the way up here."

"A frog," Bella shrugged, "I'm still not sure exactly what that potion does to be honest."

Icar rolled his eyes and huffed, "Of course you don't, was there anything else you needed or can I go back to sleep?" Bella sheepishly held up a collection bag and the dragon huffed out again. "In the corner." The brunette gleefully skipped to the corner of the room and started picking through the small pile of claws, teeth and fur.

Bella packed the collection bag in her sack and turned to thank her friend only to find the dragon snoring, sprawled out on his back. She giggled slightly at the drool falling slightly from his mouth and slipped out of the cave and headed back to town.

She stopped in a few of the shops around Drar, picking up some supplies for her journey and her quest up the mountain the next day. The sun was descending in the sky by the time she made her way to the tavern just off the main road.

"Bella!" The tavern keeper, an older blonde woman named Ingrid walked up to her. She enveloped the brunette in a hug, squashing the younger woman into her voluptuous bosom. "Were you the one that brought those rogues?" The older woman whispered into a reddening ear before releasing the girl.

Bella gasped, taking in a great lungful of air as she was released. "Rogues?" She questioned when her lungs recovered, "Oh, you mean Tanya, Irina and Kate? Yes, why?"

"Other than the fact that they're gorgeous? They're great for business," Ingrid chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pointing with her free hand to the far corner. Bella saw Tanya sitting with her head in her hands, while Irina and Kate were sitting with some of the more burly patrons downing mug after mug of ale.

"Are they… are they having a drinking contest?" Bella asked Ingrid, looking at the two blondes in amazement.

"They are, like I said, great for business." Ingrid chuckled, "The three of them sauntered in, asking for a few rooms, I have yours ready for you by the way. Anyway, the strawberry blonde settled in for dinner while the other two wanted drink. The one with the pale blonde hair immediately started talking with Boris and a drinking contest started. She and the dirty blonde are actually giving he and Havel a challenge."

"And the other competitors?" Bella asked, noticing a few other men and women drinking along with Kate, Irina, Boris and Havel.

"They got pulled in from the excitement," Ingrid chuckled. "You want me to bring you some food? I've got some nice yak meat and cheese, and some mead stashed away just for you."

Bella clapped her hands gleefully, "Thanks Ingrid, yak cheese is one of my favorites and Drar is the only place you can really find it."

"That's because we're the only ones that really appreciate it," the older woman replied. "Now go sit down hun, I'll bring your food out to you."

The brunette made her way over to where Tanya was sitting. The rogue had progressed from holding her head to banging it on the table out of frustration. "You okay?" Bella asked, sitting down next to the strawberry blonde.

Tanya's head popped up off the table, a slice of cheese stuck to her forehead. She brushed the cheese off, glancing over at her sisters when she heard a riotous cheer come from their table. "I've been better," she groaned, propping her elbow on the table. "Kate and Irina are annoying when they drink."

"Ingrid loves them," Bella commented, turning to look at the boisterous group. "She's selling a lot of ale because of them."

The rogue snorted, "I'm not surprised, they always get like this when someone challenges their prowess in drinking. They're both children really."

Ingrid approached Bella and placed a steaming plate in front of her with a piece of bread with a slab of meat with melted cheese on top of it and a mug of mead. Bella squealed and dug into her meal, moaning as the flavor of the cheese hit her tongue.

"How can you eat that?" Tanya asked, scrunching her nose. "It smells terrible."

"It's delicious," Bella groaned, downing some of the mead. "Some people just don't appreciate how good yak cheese is."

Tanya took another swig out of her mug of ale and watched in morbid fascination as the brunette devoured the meat and cheese mixture. Bella looked down at the plate mournfully as she finished off the rest of the food when Ingrid set another plate of food down in front of her. "Bella here has always been easy to please," Ingrid chuckled when she spotted the disgust on Tanya's face. "Can I get you some more ale?"

"I'm going to need it," Tanya answered, finishing the last of her mug and handing it to the woman.

The woman returned quickly with another mug for Tanya and Bella finished off her food, patting her stomach with a sigh. "So good," she let out a big sigh and downed the rest of her mead. "I think I'm going to head for bed, I've got a long day tomorrow."

"What are you going to be doing?" The alcohol in the ale started to fuzz her mind slightly, enough to relax her but not enough to make her tipsy. She hadn't consumed near the amount that her sisters have.

"Oh, uh, well, you know, collecting things," Bella said, trying to brush away the conversation.

Tanya looked at Bella curiously and opened her mouth to question the shopkeeper further but a loud shout drew her attention. They both looked over to the table where Kate and Irina were drinking with Boris, Havel and a few other patrons. Boris and Havel were twins; large, burly, hairy craftsmen that ventured down to the forests down the mountain near Lochlorn to return with wood to build houses, furniture and to provide firewood to the townspeople of Drar. It was a rough but lucrative business, allowing the men to drink their weight in ale, which, according to them, helped maintain their large frames.

The two men were standing, looking at Tanya's sisters furiously while the two women just smirked and continued to drink their ale. More words between the group were exchanged and mugs, tables and chairs started flying as the burly men lunged at the two blondes in anger. Kate and Irina stood up, jumping head first in the fight. Kate wrapped her legs around Havel's neck, slamming him into the ground and breaking a few of the chairs in the process. Irina grabbed Boris's arm when he lashed out and flipped him into the table, breaking it in half. The rest of the patrons in the bar joined in on the fight, throwing punches and breaking mugs. Tanya and Bella watched in disbelief as Irina and Kate threw themselves into the fight, using broken chair legs and whatever else they could grab to hit with.

"I'm too tired to deal with this," Tanya sighed. "I bailed them out of trouble with Cain, I'm not even going to bother this time. You had the right idea, bed sounds good."

"Yeah, this is getting a little scary," Bella said. She and Tanya bolted out of the room, running into Ingrid on the way out. "Oh, um, Ingrid hi?"

"Are Boris and Havel fighting again?" Ingrid sighed out, glancing into the room. "Along with your sisters," she commented to Tanya.

Tanya winced, "I'm really sorry Ingrid, I can pay for the damage…"

Ingrid waved away her words. "Don't worry about it. I made Boris and Havel sign a contract that if they wanted to drink here, if they got into fights, they would fix whatever they broke. I've been wanting new tables and chairs, so I'm kind of glad. If you feel you need to pay me back, just send me a new shipment of mugs from the capital next time you're there."

"Deal," the strawberry blonde agreed before heading up the stairs.

Bella was about to follow after her when Ingrid called out. "Bella honey, wait a second." The young woman turned to look at the older woman who just stared at her pensively. "This is your yearly trek to gather ingredients isn't it?" Bella nodded, wondering where the woman was going. "Are you going south?"

"You're not the first person to ask me that but yes I'm going south…"

"There are dangerous things happening down south," Ingrid warned. "Dangerous and mysterious things. You have to be extra careful when you venture that way."

The brunette stared at the tavern keeper curiously but nodded her head before making her way to her room. Her mind kept running over Ingrid's words. What did she mean mysterious and dangerous things?

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this is late, I've been working and then the Olympics happened which is pretty much my life every two years. I prefer the winter Olympics, but summer olympics are awesome as well. Equestrian is my favorite, but swimming, gymnastics and all of the canoe/kayak sports are some of my favorites as well. So, I say this, no matter what country you're from, be proud of your athletes, be proud of other country's athletes. Unless they do stupid, rude or illegal type stuff, then you can shake your head at them. And I know that some of you don't like sports and stuff, which is fine, I'm not a super big fan either, but still have to give them props for what they manage to do.**

 **Right so, hopefully next chapter will be out next month *fingers crossed***


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